sdwrage's Blog at LumberJocks.comhttp://lumberjocks.com/sdwrage/blog
Sun, 03 Jul 2011 06:16:04 GMTJourney into Woodworkinghttp://lumberjocks.com/sdwrage/blog/24155
Seeing as this is my first post, I probably should elaborate on who I am and what I do for a living. My name is Justin Lonas and I am a Web Application Developer (i.e. guy who works on websites). I have been doing web development for over five years and, until recently, was content with the work that I have done. It wasn’t until I moved from Florida back to my quaint home town of Athens, OH that I really started getting a feel for where I wanted to go in life. Growing client expectations and elaborate logical designs with my web work started weighing heavy on my mind and I desperately was seeking a more creative and fulfilling outlet.

Recently my fiance had decided that she wanted a new bookshelf to replace the particle board mess that we claimed as our book nook. I didn’t want to purchase yet another flimsy Walmart knock-off and I wanted this bookshelf to be all wood as wooden furniture tends to last longer… but… wooden furniture was expensive. I took this as a chance to drive three nails with one hammer. I hustled to Lowes where I rustled up some help from an employee on wood sizes and a simple design for the bookshelf. He imparted to me a nice staggered shelf design that would prevent wood sag and also gave the bookshelf a very creative look.

After purchasing the wood and necessary tools, I attempted to take what little I knew about woodworking and set out to the task at hand. The first attempt led to a very unstable and uneven bookshelf. I decided to borrow a higher powered drill (wired) and redo the design by working on the shelves before the frame itself. This proved to be very helpful as I was able to align the shelving units side by side and place the supports evenly. After all was said and done, I had a very sturdy bookshelf with a few imperfections.

Am I sad that I made those imperfections? of course not. It allowed me to realize that I am learning from my mistakes. I worked as best as I could with what I knew but those problems that did crop up allowed me to grow as a woodworker and avoid future mistakes. What did I walk away with? well… lets just say that pilot holes are invaluable to preventing the cracking of wood as well as the gaps created from the screw pushing the secondary piece of wood.

What now? Although I am an amateur, I do come from a family that does love to work with wood. My father did a bit of woodworking himself. We decided to do a bit of woodworking as a side income and, eventually, as our primary source of income. We believe by living in a college town that we may have a bit of an edge in the way of niche furniture (bars, pool tables, etc).